Zinsser Primer, Sealer, Stain killer

WeAreGhosts

I've bought some of this to try and get rid of the water drip stains on my bathroom walls that have occurred due to it not being ventilated enough. Can I just paint this on the stains that are only on half the wall (vertically) or do I need to paint the whole wall?

Doozergirl

It will behave differently to normal paint, you'll see the different patches even if you paint over it, particularly in a steamy bathroom.  

You might be better just cleaning the wall and maybe repainting it.  The stain blocker is really for stains coming through the paintwork from behind.  

WeAreGhosts

Doozergirl said:

It will behave differently to normal paint, you'll see the different patches even if you paint over it, particularly in a steamy bathroom.  

You might be better just cleaning the wall and maybe repainting it.  The stain blocker is really for stains coming through the paintwork from behind.  

I've tried repainting with a darker paint but the stains have appeared again.
It's something of a mystery really. It's a bathroom without a fan, but the window is open all day and especially when showering it's open wide, there's never a build up of steam, yet I keep getting these stains.
I also have a small en suite, also without a fan, that gets much more steamy and doesn't have these stains!

sol2017

What product have you bought? Zinsser do several primers/stain blockers that perform best in different circumstances.

shiraz99

As above, exactly which product have you got? Zinsser do a specific paint for stains, funnily enough called Cover Stain, but they also do the primers BIN and Bullseye 123 which can also be used to cover and block stains, not to mention a paint for ceilings called Ceiling Pro 5-in-1 which also has stain blocking abilities.

FreeBear

WeAreGhosts said:  It's something of a mystery really. It's a bathroom without a fan, but the window is open all day and especially when showering it's open wide, there's never a build up of steam, yet I keep getting these stains.

I have a bathroom without an extractor fan. Even when it does get steamy in there, I never open the window. The only condensation I get is occasionally on a mirror or cold tap. When the weather turns cold, have a go with the window kept closed and see what difference that makes.

It could be that the stains you have are nothing to do with condensation - It might be contamination in the plaster (oil perhaps) that requires a more aggressive solution than covering it with Zinsser. Some photos might help.

Megaross

I've spot primed with it before - provided your top coat is of sufficient opacity (ie. A quality trade paint or similar) it'll cover fine, feather it in nice and jobs a goodun

ChilliBob

You can't leave Zinsser primers uncoated I don't think - I certainly never have. Perhaps prime with Zinsser 123 or similar then use Zinzzer Perma White - Expensive but.jce to use and supposed to be ideal for bathrooms 

sol2017

Zinsser Perma White is an excellent bathroom paint. Perhaps not quite matt but worked really well for me in the past.

WeAreGhosts

I’ve bought Zinder Bullseye 123 plus, says it blocks water stains.

if it is something like oil then wouldn’t it be all over the wall rather just the bottom half?

When I moved in I had to have the whole wall replastered, so I know it’s all brand new.

I don’t know if the photo shows the stains enough but here goes …

shiraz99

As the 123 is a water based product you should get away with just applying to the stained areas but you may need a couple of coats.